January 15-17, 2010

Over the past 15 years, nearly 200 people from all across North America have taken part in the Doing Our Own Work seminar for anti-racist white allies. If you are a Doing Our Own Work graduate who yearns to deepen your connection with others committed to this work, please join us for this reunion weekend at The Leaven Center.

This will be an opportunity to reconnect with those you know and meet new friends and allies. It will also be a time to pause and reflect – with compassion and clarity – on where we have been and where we are going in our work for racial justice.

We will “check in” with each other, exchange resources, share stories of our continuing efforts to confront racism and white privilege, and consult with each other about our spheres of influence. Most of all, it will be a time for reinvigoration and renewal as we encourage and strengthen each other in this never-ending work of dismantling racism.

Space is limited so we encourage you to register early.

• Facilitator: Melanie S. Morrison (bio)
• Time: Friday, 7 pm - Sunday, 1 pm
• Location: The Leaven Center, Lyons, Michigan (www.leaven.org). The main floor of the Lodge and Guest House are barrier-free.
• Cost: $190 (includes program, two nights lodging, and five meals). Partial scholarships available.
• To Register:
  • Print and mail your registration form with your deposit; or
  • Pay your entire registration amount through Pay Pal:
    
    
    
  For information about the reunion or about partial scholarships: write Melanie Morrison or call 989-855-2277.

January 21-24, 2010

Understanding Privilege and Oppression (UPO) is a two-part training for faculty and doctoral students in the Michigan State University College of Education. UPO explores the dynamics of privilege and oppression by focusing on three systems of structural inequality: racism, sexism, and heterosexism. UPO examines the histories and dynamics unique to each of these systems as well as identifying how these systems intersect and reinforce each other. Participants also explore strategies for recognizing and unlearning the habits and practices that protect their privilege. Core to this training is the assumption that we can become as passionate about dismantling the systems from which we unjustly benefit as we are about eradicating the systems that oppress us. Registration for this training is now closed. 

Understand Privilege and Oppression is funded by grant for Creating Inclusive Excellence Office of Inclusion, Michigan State University

Leaders: Melanie S. Morrison and Monique Savage (bios)
Time: Thursday, 7:00 pm to Sunday, 1:00 pm
Location: The Leaven Center near Lyons, Michigan

February 19-22 and March 19-22, 2010

Doing Our Own Work is an intensive seminar for white people who seek to deepen their commitment to confronting and challenging racism and white privilege where they live, study, and work. It is our conviction that those of us who are white need to "do our own work" – educating ourselves, confronting racism, holding each other accountable, and demonstrating good faith as we seek to build genuine and lasting coalitions with people of color. Doing Our Own Work is designed as a supplement to, not a substitute for, contexts where people of diverse races discuss and strategize together how racism can be challenged.

The seminar consists of two extended weekends, providing more than 45 hours of "class time." Anti-racist action and reflection form the heart of Doing Our Own Work. Each participant is invited to identify a "sphere of influence" in her/his life that will serve as the focus of action and reflection. Utilizing input from the leaders, assigned readings, videos, group discussion, and structured exercises, participants explore the following topics and issues:

• The four realms of racism and change: personal, interpersonal, institutional, and cultural
• Historical roots of racism in the United States
• Movements for racial justice in the U.S.
• White privilege and unearned advantage
• How to be an effective anti-racist ally
• Cultural appreciation versus cultural appropriation
• Discerning our spiritual resources for change
• Practicing the skills of interrupting racism
• Strategies for institutional change

The facilitators are committed to working with participants to create a respectful, loving, and truth-telling environment where we may bring our whole selves to this vitally important work.

• Leaders: Melanie S. Morrison and Aaron Wilson-Ahlstrom (bios)
• Time: Friday, 7 pm - Monday, 1 pm. Attendance at both extended weekends is required.
• Location: The Leaven Center, Lyons, Michigan (www.leaven.org). The main floor of the Lodge and Guest House are barrier-free.
• Cost: $690 ($100 deposit and $590 balance due. The balance may be paid in installments extending beyond the close of the seminar. The cost includes program, materials, lodging, and meals. Partial scholarships are available.
• To Register:
  • Print and mail your registration form with your deposit; or
  • Pay your entire registration amount through Pay Pal:
    
    
    
  For information about the seminar or about partial scholarships: write Melanie Morrison or call 989-855-2277.

February 26-28, 2010

Our goal is to create a beloved community and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.  ~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The 2008 Presidential election vividly illustrated the contradictions that continue to surround race and racism in this nation. On the one hand, the election of Barack Obama as President was a profoundly transformative moment in our nation's history, demonstrating that racial barriers once thought intractable can be overcome. On the other hand, we continue to experience daily how race is used to breed fear and suspicion, and divide us from one another.

Racism remains a wound at the heart of our nation that cannot be wished away or treated carelessly. As unemployment rates soar and jobs are outsourced overseas, frustration and rage are unleashed upon the most vulnerable within our borders – immigrants and those we call “illegal aliens.” The divide between rich and poor is greater than at any time since the Great Depression. Despite the rise of a Black middle class over the past 40 years, the average financial net worth of White families in 2009 remains ten times greater than the average financial net worth of Black families.

In May 2008, the United Church of Christ called upon its local churches to engage in a sacred conversation on race, recognizing that racial healing and reconciliation are crucial to our spiritual, physical, and mental wholeness as a people. In response to this call, Community Congregational Church has invited Dr. Rachel Harding of Denver, Colorado, and Rev. Dr. Melanie Morrison, of Lyons, Michigan to lead us in a sacred conversation that promises to be challenging, soul-stretching, and enlivening. Together we will explore:

• The sacred work of racial justice
• Dr. King’s vision of the Beloved Community
• How to nurture authentic relationships across differences
• How to be an effective anti-racist ally
• Where we draw hope and strength for ourselves, our communities, and our nation as we work for peace and justice.

During worship on Sunday, February 28, Dr. Harding and Dr. Morrison will share their personal journeys as women – one African American; one white – who are passionately committed to the sacred work of racial justice.

Join us for  this extraordinary weekend of conversation, reflection, and "beloved community" for the renewal of our spirits and the revitalization of our commitment to social change.

• Leaders: Rachel E. Harding and Melanie S. Morrison (bios)
• Dates: February 26-28, 2010
• Times: Friday,7:00 – 9:30 pm; Saturday 10:00 am – 3:00 pm; and Sunday worship services at 7:30 am and 10:00 am
• Location: Community Congregational Church of Tiburon, 145 Rock Hill Dr., Tiburon, CA 94920
• For information: Rev. Curran Reichert, 415-435-9108.

May 24-28, 2010

This course will explore existent and emerging models of ministry with people who are estranged from traditional church settings or are relegated to the margins of religious institutions. For example, we will examine theologies, rituals, spiritual practices, and faith communities that are being forged by people with disabilities, LGBT people, and those who live on the streets. We will also examine the challenges, stresses, and joys of doing ministry on the margins.

• Instructor: Melanie S. Morrison (bio)
• Times: 9:00 am to 4:30 pm Monday - Friday.
• Location: Chicago Theological Seminary, 5757 S University Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
• For information: e-mail Melanie Morrison, or call 989-877-2277
• To register: e-mail Cheryl Miller, CTS Registrar, or call 773-322-0227.

June 8-10, 2010

Spirit and pride are powerful forces in the disability rights movement and the lives of people with disability – calling forth a radical wholeness and a passion for justice. All too often, however, theological traditions of pity and charity shape how Christian and Jewish communities treat people with disabilities. There are prayers for healing that aim to “make whole the broken,” scriptural passages that describe disabled people as “blemished,” and religious images that depict disability as spiritual deficiency: “I once was blind, but now I see.”

Yet religious communities can provide powerful resources in the struggle for a more inclusive and just society. Brining together theology and activism, Spirit & Pride invites disability activists, students, members of congregations, clergy, and others to a three-day process of self-reflection, study, and dialogue. This retreat draws upon ancient and emerging traditions of liberation to help participants become more effective catalysts for change where they live, work, and worship.

During the retreat, there will be time for personal reflection, journaling or creative writing, text study, and small group conversations. We will draw upon poetry, music, videos, case studies, and stories that reimagine disability in ways that are liberating for people with disabilities.

• Leaders: Julia Watts Belser and Melanie S. Morrison (bios)
• Time: Tuesday, 9:30 am to Thursday, 4:30 pm
• Location: The Leaven Center near Lyons, Michigan
• Cost: to be determined
• To register: www.leaven.org
• For information about Spirit & Pride or about partial scholarships: write Melanie Morrison or call 989-855-2277.

June 15-20, 2010

For 16 consecutive years, Doing Our Own Work has a provided a unique context for white people who seek to deepen their commitment to confronting and challenging white racism. Offering more than 40 hours of “class time,” Doing Our Own Work equips white people with the analysis, skills, and tools needed to be more effective anti-racist allies with people of color and to help bring about institutional change. For more information about the seminar (link)

• Leaders: Melanie S. Morrison and Hillary Stephenson (bios)
• Time: Tuesday, 7 pm – Sunday, 1 pm.
• Location: Tower Hill Retreat and Conference Center, Sawyer, Michigan (link)
• Cost: $690 ($100 deposit and $590 balance due. The balance may be paid in installments extending beyond the close of the seminar). The cost includes program, resource materials, lodging, and meals for five days and nights. Partial scholarships are available.
• Print and mail your registration form with your deposit; or
• Pay your entire registration amount through Pay Pal:
  
  
  
• For information about the seminar or about partial scholarships: write Melanie Morrison or call 989-855-2277.

For information about any of our programs, please contact us.

Learn about some of our previous events.